Fence-post.



PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

H.J.GOOPER. FENCE POST.

APPLICATION FILED JAILSl, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,150, dated November 3, 1903. Application filed January 31, 1903. v Serial No. 141,357. (No model-1 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. COOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of Posey and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Fence-Post, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in fenceposts and anchors for same; and the object of my device is to provide a simple and efiicient method of securely anchoring the post without the use of side braces, brackets, &c.

It will be understood that while my improved anchor is shown and described in connection with a post, yet it can readily be applied to telegraph and other poles or to beams of any kind which it is desired to implant vertically in the earth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my post and anchor in position. Fig. 2 is a view of the post in elevation. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the post about on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of my post and anchor, showing a form of brace. Fig. 5 is a detail View of the bottom plate. Figs. 6, 7, 8 are detail views of various forms of braces used with my bottom plate.

In carrying out my invention I employ, preferably, a post comprising four laterallyprojecting wings A, each having a vertical series of perforations A corresponding in number to the strands of wire of which the fence is to be composed. Adjacent its lower end the post may be either square or circular in shape and terminates in a reduced circular threaded shank A I also employ a bottom plate having a central socket B and four laterally-extending wings B B B B spaced an equal distance apart. The wing 13 is sharpened at its outer end, and the wings 13 B have their sides adjacent the Wings 13 sharpened to form cutting-plates. The socket B is interiorly threaded to receive the shank of the post.

The first anchor-bracecomprises a boxing O, longitudinally slotted, the slots intersecting centrally at right angles, as shown at C, and the boxing O is adapted to slide on the post. The boxing carries the flat horizontal integral top plates 0 at each end of which are the downwardly-extending end pieces C to 0 extending an equal distance on opposite sides of the boxing and having a flange D along the upper edge. At each end of this strip are the end pieces D arranged transversely to the strip D and extending below the lower edge of same, and the lower edges of the strips D -are beveled, as at D It will be obvious from the drawings that if C of Fig. 8 was cut away on each side and v0 raised to a higher position the form shown in Fig. 7 would practically be produced.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the boxing E similar to and slotted like G and D.

Intersecting wings E are secured to adjacent sides of the boxing and have their lower edges, which are below the plane of the boxing, sharpened.

The mode of using my device is as follows: A hole large enough in diameter to permit the bottom plate to be inserted horizontally therein is dug one foot from the fence-post line and of a depth equal to the depth of the post-hole. The shank of the post is screwed into the socket l3 and the plate lowered into the hole, with the wing B pointing toward the fence-line. The post is then withdrawn and a hole bored with a post-auger on the fence-line and to the same depth as the first hole. The winged bottom plate is then forced through the ground between the two holes, the cutting edges of the wings rendering this possible, and when the socket B is in alinement with the bored post-hole the shank A will fall into same, the post having been inserted in the post-hole either before or after the forcing of the bottom plate, and the post is turned, threading the shank into the socket. The boxing C, D, or E is then slipped on the post and driven down into the ground, the blades C D or E, as the case may be, areforced downward into the ground, firmly bracing the post. The boxings are similar, and each have blades or wings having sharp D f l ened lower edges, the blades secured ditferently to the boxes, and are thereby adapted for use in different soils, the form shown in Fig. 6 being especially adapted for use in hard ground, while the form shown in Fig. 8 is more efl'ective in swampy ground.

It is understood that the anchor parts are of metal and that the wings are cast integral with the boxing to which they are connected.

The posts may be either metal or wood.

The wires are connected to the posts by short.

wires passed through the perforations, passed over and under the fence-wire, and twisted.

-Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 

